THE selection regime at a grammar school which was founded in Saxon times is set to be changed after concerns emerged over the cost of testing pupils.

At a meeting next week, North Yorkshire County Council will consider replacing bespoke 11-plus tests for children seeking a place at Ripon Grammar School - the top-ranked state school in Yorkshire and the North-East following last year's A-levels - with a more cost-effective generic option.

The council, which is seeking to cut £167m from its budget by 2020, spends £181,000 annually giving children wanting to study at the school and at Ermysted’s Grammar School, Skipton, an unmarked familiarisation test followed by verbal reasoning and non-verbal reasoning papers.

The move comes almost 15 years after parents in the city voted by 67 per cent to 33 per cent in favour to keep Ripon Grammar as a selective school, after anti-selection campaigners were given the right to hold a ballot.

A report to the authority's executive said the bespoke tests introduced 14 years ago over concerns about the reliability of results and fairness of the testing process were overly bureaucratic and financially unsustainable.

Initially, the council proposed a move to a system of one day of testing and replacing familiarisation tests with sample test materials to create a level playing field for all children and end an appeal system.

A consultation over the plan drew criticism, with 64 per cent of respondents opposing the changes.

A spokesman for the school, whose former pupils include Richmond MP William Hague, television presenter Richard Hammond and fashion designer Bruce Oldfield, said it did not believe a single test session was sufficient to ensure the reliability of selection and retain public confidence.

He added: "The council's reported costs of testing are clearly excessive and could bring transfer testing into disrepute.

"Selection testing still has the potential to be controversial; this review must not ignite controversy."

Officers said the school's concerns had been accepted and to make the required savings it was considering using the historic bank of previously used North Yorkshire tests to offset the cost of running two tests.

The council's education boss, Councillor Arthur Barker, said the changes were a compromise, but would still realise "substantial savings".

If approved by the council, the changes would become effective for school admissions in 2016, testing for which will take place in September.